The Land Before Time: Return to Big Water
by Sapphire-Glow
Summary: When Ali shows up in the Great Valley, alone, she tells Littlefoot and his friends how she was swept there from the Big Water, while searching for a missing hatchling named Hazel. Littlefoot and his friends agree to help find Hazel and go back to Big Water, unraveling a whole new adventure for themselves...


Littlefoot jerked his head up, wide awake, startled out of his sleep as thunder crashed above in the early dawn sky, accompanied by the steady thrum of the heavy skywater. He jumped to his feet, shaking his head to clear it of the water that dripped into his eyes.

"Grandma?" he whispered, rousing the old longneck. The blue-gray longneck blinked open grayish blue eyes.

"Littlefoot!" she said, sounding surprised. "You're up early. What is it?"

"Look, Grandma." Littlefoot pointed with his thick tail toward all the skywater. "There's so much skywater!"

Grandma Longneck smiled and touched her head to his. "It'll be fine, Littlefoot. Now get to sleep. It won't be too much of a problem, you'll see." With that, she tucked her tail around her body and closed her eyes. Littlefoot sighed in frustration but curled up on the damp ground.

Littlefoot let the beating of the skywater slowly lull him into a sleep.

But it seemed too soon when he was woken up again. Grandpa Longneck stood over him, his long neck bent to Littlefoot's height. "Littlefoot. Wake up!" His tail rested on Littlefoot's back, then whisked away. "Littlefoot!"

Littlefoot let out a yawn that nearly split his head in two. His blue-purple form shifted, and he lifted his head groggily. "Already?" he whined.

"Come on, Littlefoot," Grandma said. "The Bright Circle is already at the Smoking Mountains." At this statement, Littlefoot stood up, his small body suddenly energetic. He had woken up a little later than usual today.

"Sorry," he muttered. Grandma simply craned her neck down and quickly rasped her soft, pink tongue over Littlefoot's face, repeatedly. As she drew back, Littlefoot smiled, enjoying the feeling of the crisp, late morning breeze against his face. His reddish-brown eyes gleamed in the sunlight, and he turned excitedly to his grandparents. "Can I go out and play now? The others are sure to be waiting."

"Of course, Littlefoot," Grandpa said. "Just stay out of trouble."

"Yes, Grandpa," Littlefoot promised, before waving his tail and bounding cheerfully away. The skywater had slowed to a very light drizzle, now, but parts of the ground were still wet. He headed toward the spot where they would normally meet before playing. Sure enough, four young dinosaurs were standing near the clearing surrounded by bushes and trees, talking among themselves.

"Hey, guys!" Littlefoot panted, as he bounded closer, joining his friends. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nope, nope, nope," Ducky stated; she was a swimmer. "But I think it's Cera's turn to hide now. Oh, yes."

Cera the three-horn sighed. "All right." She turned and sprinted away. Littlefoot let Ducky clamber onto his back as he ran in pursuit, but he saw no sign of the young dinosaur. Spike the spike-tail sniffed the air cautiously.

"Do you smell something, Spike?" Petrie asked, as Spike's eyes lit up. The young flyer swooped down until he was level with Littlefoot's head. Spike nodded, looking excited. He was the youngest out of the five, and he couldn't talk yet. Petrie sighed, and Littlefoot rolled his eyes, as Spike tore of a clump of leaves from a bush nearby. Everyone knew that he was a big eater.

"I mean, do you smell _Cera?"_ Littlefoot said, his thick tail slapping the ground.

"There, there, there! Look!" Ducky called, pointing toward where an orange tail had just disappeared.

Littlefoot's eyes sparkled. "I see her! Come on!" He raced over to where he had seen Cera, but she semed to have disappeared, again. There it was again! This time, Littlefoot could see the faint outline of her nose horn. "I see you!" he shouted joyfully, skidding to a halt in front of her just before she could dive in a clump of bushes.

"Oh, all right," she grumbled. "Who's going to hide next?" She paused, then turned to the spike-tail. "Spike?"

Spike nodded and turned away, heading toward another large bush. When he hid, Littlefoot could still see most of his spiky tail sticking out from the leaves. Ducky rolled her eyes and pointed. "My brother cannot hide very well. Oh, no, no, no, no, no." Since there were no other spike-tails in the Great Valley, Ducky and her mother had taken Spike in as family.

It seemed that Spike heard her, for seconds later, he popped out of the bush and padded back toward them, his tail drooping. "Oh, no, Spike," Ducky stated. "I did not mean to make you sad. No, no, no." Spike responded by licking his "sister" affectionately.

"Who hide next?" Petrie asked, flapping his orange wings impatiently. "Littlefoot?"

"Okay!" Littlefoot turned and darted toward the place they called - or rather, the rock they called - Big Boulder. Hopefully, he would find a hiding place there. Turning his light blue-purple head, he saw that Cera, Spike, Ducky, and Petrie were in pursuit, laughing as they chased him. Suddenly, he knocked into something and fell back from the impact.

Jumping to his feet again, Littlefoot blinked his red-brown eyes, and his vision clear. Standing before him was a friend he thought he would never see again. "Littlefoot? Is that really you?"

It was another blue-purple longneck, except this one was a female, her bright blue eyes sparkling. "Ali?" Littlefoot gasped. Just as she nodded, Cera, Spike, and Ducky skidded into them, leaving the five of them in a a cloud of dust, while Petrie fluttered above.

"Sorry," Cera muttered. Then, she froze for a second before getting to her feet again. "Is that you, Ali?"

"Yeah. Hi, Cera," Ali said. "Hi, Ducky, Spike, and Petrie."

"I did not think I would see you again," Ducky stated. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

"Me neither," Ali replied.

"Why you here, Ali?" Petrie asked, circling lazily above the five dinosaurs' heads.

Ali's blue eyes grew worried. My herd now lives near the Big Water, and-"

"The Big Water?" Littlefoot echoed incredulously. "That's so far away! How did you get here?"

The she-longneck shuddered. "I kinda got swept here by the water. Anyway, one of our hatchlings, Hazel, she's lost somehow. I guessed she went downstream because she said she was playing near the water. Well, I slipped and fell into the water and I got swept here, just on the other side of those mountains. Then I recognized this place, so I came here for help."

"We might be able to help," Littlefoot said. "We've been to the Big Water twice before, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cera grumbled. "But we got into so much trouble last time, remember?"

"But what about Ali? And Hazel? We need to find Hazel and take them back to the Big Water!" Littlefoot replied urgently. Ali's expression grew grateful.

"Please!" she added.

"Me go with you," Petrie said. Spike nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Yup, yup yup!" Ducky added cheerfully. "How 'bout you, Littlefoot? Are you going to come? Are you? Are you?"

"Of course I'm coming!" Littlefoot said quickly. He turned to the three-horn. She always came on their adventures, and she was really a helpful asset on the way. "Cera?"

"Oh, all right," Cera snapped. "I'm coming."

"Okay, let's leave before dark. The grown-ups will be worried and start looking for us too soon if we leave at bedtime," Ali suggested. She turned to Littlefoot. "Thanks, guys."

"Whaddya mean, _let's leave before dark?"_ Cera asked. "We're leaving right now, right?"

"Yeah!" Littlefoot agreed.

"Yup, yup, yup!" Ducky stated.

And so, they were off.


End file.
